


A Little Man and a Little Lady

by turnedtosteel



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assistant Darcy Lewis, Avengers Tower, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes Returns, Bucky Barnes is a little shit, Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ceiling Vent Clint Barton, Dancer Natasha Romanov, Darcy Lewis's Taser, Deaf Clint Barton, Domestic Avengers, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Humour, I Don't Know How Long This Will Be, Kid Bucky Barnes, Kid Fic, Kid Natasha Romanov, Multi, Natasha Needs a Hug, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Pansexual Bucky Barnes, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sam Wilson is a Gift, Sassy Bucky Barnes, Slow Burn, Smut, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, basically disregard everything after the winter soldier, slow burn darcy/sam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-09-14 00:03:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9148045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turnedtosteel/pseuds/turnedtosteel
Summary: Steve has found Bucky and bought him back to Avengers Tower. While recovering he joins them on a mission and in the process of saving Natasha's life, they both get hit with a magical blast that somehow de-ages them both.Slow build to start. Rated M for occasional smut and Bucky's foul mouth. Seriously someone needs to wash his mouth out with soap.





	1. In which Tony gets very carried away and everyone moves in

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [six million dollar baby](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8351251) by [duplicity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/duplicity/pseuds/duplicity). 



> So I'm a massive fan of kidfics and thought I'd try my own. No idea how long it'll take but you can't go wrong with Domestic Avengers. This is a pretty long chapter but it's to kinda set where everyone is. 
> 
> xoxox

After the fall of SHIELD, Tony forced the other Avengers (minus an off world Thor) to come to Stark Tower for "a talk". His idea? Take over from SHIELD and carry on with the missions. And one by one they showed, even Sam who was forcibly bundled to New York by Tony himself (" _Anyone who fights for Capsicle like that is one of us. Plus, I wanna play with the wings._ "). Well they all showed except Steve. After he was discharged from hospital, he had begun a frantic search for Bucky and the last anyone had heard from him, he was in Romania. Glossing over his absence, Tony proposed his plan to the team on what he was calling the "communal floor". 

"You're crazy, Stark." Natasha leaned back in the sofa and crossed her legs at the knee. "I'm in."

Pepper looked at Tony as if he was crazy. "What on Earth has gotten into you Tony?! Do you know how much manpower SHIELD had to run that organisation? I don't have time to do all that and run your company at the same time! And the money? We don't have that much."

The lift _dings_ , and a voice floats over to them. 

"You won't have to run it, Pepper, that's where I come in." Maria Hill strides across the room with a secret smile on her face. Tony gestures towards her. 

"We all remember Director Hill don't we?" 

Everyone gapes at Maria over her new title, and she rolls her eyes. "Tony has insisted that if I'm running this part of Stark Industries, I have to take the title. It's been sorted with The Pentagon, this is a Shadow organisation but we aren't vigilantes; we have specific funding from the SHIELD budgets and nobody will be able to trace it back to you Pepper." Pepper looks relieved and rubs her temples, and Maria comes to sit beside her. Clint stands up and stretches, before moving towards the kitchen. 

"I'm so in." he yawns as he walks. 

Sam shrugs, "Considering the way Tony bundled me into his car I don't think I have much choice. I'm gonna have to find somewhere to live and sort out my place back in D-"

"No need," Tony cuts him off, "I have people packing up that place, you're on the 71st floor and you have a meeting with me in four hours about the design and decoration. You all have floors here ready to decorate." Everyone stares at him in surprise, and Tony takes this as an opportunity to keep talking animatedly. "So the floor we're on is, like I said, the communal floor. There's a kitchen, this lovely living room a couple of bathrooms and a few guest rooms. It's the 77th floor. The two above us are my floor and Hill's. She gets to be high up because she is a higher up." Maria sticks her tongue out at him. "The one below us is Natasha and Clint's because I knew birdbrain would want to be high up as well, then going down is Bruce, Thor, Darcy because I'm working on getting Jane here and didn't think she'd want to share with Jane and Thor, Capsicle, and Sam. The 70th floor has a cinema, a gym and a pool on it. Mine, Bruce's and Jane's labs are all in sub levels one, two and three under the garage, although there's a basic one and a small medical bay on the 70th floor. The only people that can get past the 69th floor are us, a few ultra-high clearance SHIELD agents and the maid. Everyone will have top clearance to every floor, but you can't get into someone else’s apartments unless they give you clearance through JARVIS. Also JARVIS is there for everyone to use. Oh and I cleared space in the garages for anyone with a vehicle. Any questions?"

Everyone looked at Tony in shock. Nobody spoke for a few moments, until Pepper managed to find her voice, "Tony, when... when did you have time to do all this? _How_ did you have time to do all this? You can't even organise your own meetings usually."

"Darcy and Hill. Part of the perk of Jane joining us is I get Darcy as my assistant as well. Actually she says her official title is Avenger Co-ordinator." Tony shrugs. "Means me and Jane have someone to remind us to eat and sleep and Hill has someone to help arrange press conferences, internal complaints about each other, et cetera. So the kitchen is over there and it's fully stocked for group meals and stuff as Legolas is finding out. You all have kitchens in your apartments and, my favourite thing, you have digital fridges. Literally you write your shopping list on the door with the pen attached to it and it gets sent to J.A.R.V.I.S. to be bought for you! I'm proud of that one."

"Jesus Christ Tony is that what you get up to in your lab?" Pepper didn't even sound surprised, just exasperated. 

"Relax Pep, it took me like ten minutes to develop and another couple hours to figure out how to get it into the fridge and have it all function properly. Piece of cake. Now, quick tour and then everyone has a meeting with me to design and decorate their floors!" Tony clapped his hands and walked over to the lift doors. 

***********************************************************************

Everyone settled in with surprising ease. After everyone had their 'meeting' with Tony about design, it was less than a week before the apartments were ready to move into. They had all gotten the chance to choose how many bedrooms they had and any layouts they wanted. In fact, some of the Avengers were almost shocked at how accommodating Tony was being, but rather than question it chose to just go along with it. Sam, Natasha and Clint all stayed on the guest floor for the week while their apartments were being renovated. Bruce had only opted to repaint his floor and did it himself whenever he wanted to unwind, much to Tony's annoyance. Moving in day was facilitated by Darcy, who arrived fresh from London with a jet-lagged Jane and several boxes of donuts, and Sam was reminded of military drills with the precision of all of her directions and organisation. And how could she not be organised? She carried two planners, a clipboard, two StarkPhones beeping constantly with things that needed her attention and an earpiece that she frequently shouted into, yet nothing seemed to daze her. Sam sat back in the communal kitchen with a coffee and helped himself a donut. He despised moving house but not having to pack or even drive his stuff here was a nice break. Darcy walks in and sits next to him, pouring herself a cup of coffee. 

"Right, now the brunt of the deliveries have arrived I can introduce myself. Darcy Lewis, Avenger Co-Ordinator and all round awesome person. I'm assuming you're Sam?" She held out her hand, and Sam gripped it firmly. 

"Yes ma'am, Sam Wilson."

"Well Sam, you got a good handshake there, but please just call me Darcy. I have enough of Stark and Maria's underlings calling me ma'am now." She smiled, stood, and took a donut. "Lovely to meet you Sam but the little voice in my ear just told me Natasha's workout gear arrived so I better go make sure it's all in one piece or it'll be a very bad day for someone. Not me obviously, but someone."

She winked at him and sashayed out of the room with her coffee and donut, and as she went down the hallways he could hear her shouting into her earpiece again. Sam sat back and was thinking about how cool she seemed when a small brunette wandered into the kitchen. Sam jumped to his feet and she looked startled. 

"Sorry to scare you! It took me a minute to realise who you must be, since not many people have clearance to this floor." He pulls a chair out for her. "I'm Sam, Sam Wilson and from what I've been told I'm assuming you're Dr Foster?" She sits down and yawns.

"Yep I'm Jane. Sorry I realise I must have scared you too. I was looking for Darcy and thought I heard her in here." Jane's voice cracks with the lack of sleep. "She won't let me into my apartment because I have to let my body clock adjust to New York time again."

"She went to deal with the people moving Natasha's workout gear. Weren't you only in London? Tony's jet does that flight in like 5 hours." Sam asks with confusion and receives a secret smile back.

"Officially yes." She's spared any inquisition by Bruce wandering in with a teapot. She gets up and stops him shuffling back out with a hug. Bruce looks helplessly at Sam over her head and Sam laughs. Jane steps back and takes him in. "It's been so long Bruce, how are you!" It's as if her jet lag has disappeared and she chatters with Bruce as he makes himself some more tea. They both go down to the labs and Sam decides to go down to his apartment. He honestly never thought that he would live anywhere as nice as his new place on the 71st floor. Two bedrooms, three bathrooms, the kitchen of his wildest dreams, a bathroom that looks like it belongs in a palace and the perfect view of the New York skyline. He began to wander around it and just take everything in when a tiny gasp made him realise he wasn't alone.

Pretending he hasn't realised there is someone in the bathroom, he pulls a book off the shelf built into the walls. Inside is a handgun he kept hidden for emergencies. As he goes to take it out though, there are footsteps and a very familiar voice.

"You don't need to shoot me with the book gun, Sam. It's just me." Steve walks over to him and they clap hands.

"God damn it Rogers, you nearly gave me a heart attack. Why have you snuck in here anyway, you have your own floor according to Stark."

Steve is quiet, and won't look Sam in the eye. 

"Steve there better not be a ninety-six-year-old assassin with a metal arm in my bathroom...."

"Ninety-eight actually. I'm older than Steve." Sam whirled around to find a very haggard Bucky Barnes standing in his bathroom door. Pinching his nose, Sam turns back to the blond as Bucky continues. "Sorry for, uh, the trying to kill you thing."

"How did you two even get in here without any of us being alerted. Especially me! This is my apartment after all!" Sam didn't know what else to say.

"Tony gave me access to the floor. Probably assumed you would have given it to me. I even didn't know I had a floor. Also I told J.A.R.V.I.S. it was to play a prank on Tony so we came up the stairs."

_"And if it was not for the clear state of Sergeant Barnes I would have told him, however I feel it may be prudent for you and he to shower first, Captain Rogers."_

"God damn Tony developing a sassy robot. Okay," Sam turns to Bucky, "Sergeant, you're welcome to use my shower while I yell at Steve. I have some of his stuff in the spare room that he left at mine you can put on." Bucky nods. He turns back to Steve, "You however are an absolute fucking idiot." He walks to the bedroom and returns with a duffel bag, which he hands to a laughing Bucky, who disappears into the bathroom. Steve has the nerve to look sheepish. "What the hell Steve? None of us have heard from you since Romania. THAT WAS SIX WEEKS AGO!" Sam pinched the bridge of his nose again and threw himself on the sofa.

"I found Bucky there and we were working on helping him remember. It's not all back but he remembers important stuff now." Steve sat opposite him. "We also destroyed a few HYDRA bases." he added with a shrug. "He's mostly okay. Like 65% of the time."

Sam raised an eyebrow at that. "And the other 35%?", he asked cynically.

"He's not Bucky. He's not The Soldier either though," replied Steve quickly, "He's more like a POW."

"Okay. And the reason you didn't announce your return?"

"Bucky has been on the run for months. He's killed a lot of people and that includes people on this team. I didn't just wanna turn up with him in tow. You've met that lot, it's a lot of strong personalities for him to handle. Plus, he's just as out of time as I am, maybe even more so." The shower turned off and a moment later Bucky emerged from the steamy room drying his hair and dressed in clothes way too big for him. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was even longer than Sam remembered as it curled gently past his shoulders, but apart from that he looked less... scary. Less like the machine that tried to kill him several months ago. Steve stood. "I'm gonna jump in the shower, if that's okay?" Sam nodded. "Great then we can let the others know we're here." He grabbed the towel from Bucky and disappeared.

Sam didn't really know what to say. Bucky was staring out the window with an expression he had seen on Steve a few times and generally equated to feeling lost, so he said the answer to everything: "Coffee, sergeant?" Bucky turned to him and smiled. 

"You read my mind. And call me Bucky."

********************************************************************

Twenty minutes and two cups of coffee later, the three men were in the lift up to the communal floor. Sam had sent a group message out that they all needed to be there and they waited for Darcy to confirm they were ready. Bucky was visibly nervous and, to Sam's surprise, holding Steve's hand. Brushing it off as none of his business, the lift arrived and they all stepped out. The chatter and laughter in the room died as they all noticed Bucky hiding behind Steve. Nobody spoke and Sam idly thought this was becoming a habit. Then, almost simultaneously Tony and Natasha stood. Natasha ran over to Steve and hugged him, berating him for not telling her instantly he was home. Then she stood back and addressed Bucky in Russian. His reply must have passed muster because she nods curtly and returns to her seat.

While all of this is happening Tony has been inching closer to Bucky and is examining his arm from a small distance. Without turning Bucky pipes up, "If you wanna look at my arm you only gotta ask, Stark."

Tony covers his shock well. "You know who I am?"

"You're the spitting image of Howard. Plus, who else would ignore my reputation to look at technology?" Bucky looks at him. "I'm not gonna hurt any of you. I don't WANT to hurt any of you. Do you really think Natalia would have sat back down if she didn't believe me?" Natasha nods pointedly and one by one the team relaxes and looks at Tony.

"Why are you all staring at me?!" 

"It's your house Stark," Steve says, "and I'm waiting to see if you wouldn't mind one more guest. He can stay with me and he'll be no trouble at all, I promise!"

"You sound like a kid that's bought home a stray puppy, Steve!", Clint calls over and everyone laughs, the tension completely broken. 

Steve couldn't help but reply, "hey you leave my stray puppy alone!", electing more laughter from everyone.

"Okay, okay. Capsicle he can stay, but only if I can get my hands on that arm. Anyone else need anything? No? Great. Rogers, Barnes. My lab. We need to plan your apartments."


	2. In which secrets are revealed, Bucky refuses to tone down his language and the first complaint is made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so thank you all for the amount of kudos on the first chapter! Sorry I've taken so long but I'm a uni third year and I'm suffocating in work. This fic is most likely going to be updated with/just after my other multichapter Supernatural fic found here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/6580672/chapters/15056707
> 
> I know exactly where I'm going with this one, it's just gonna take me longer to get it into words. Reviews would be awesome though, they keep me updating ;)
> 
> xoxox

It was as if Bucky had always been with them, or at least he tried to make them feel that way. Not in a forceful way, but he didn't want them to one day turn around and decide they didn't want him around. He let Tony look at his arm whenever the inventor wanted and once a week broke into Avengers Tower for him so security could be updated. He sparred with Natasha when Clint was too scared to, carried things for Darcy whenever she asked, cooked for the team and attended therapy sessions with Sam to make them feel more comfortable having him in such close proximity. He was trying so hard to be normal that it was painfully obvious he was still scared of the Soldier coming back. Still, they tried to make him one of them as much as they could. 

He and Steve stayed in rooms on the communal floor while their apartment was built. They insisted in one big one to share and was going to take slightly longer to decorate as alongside their bedrooms, they wanted a workout room, an art studio, somewhere for Bucky to meditate and in general very spacious rooms to contrast the tiny apartment they used to share in Brooklyn. The workmen also had to be vetted more thoroughly as Maria was still working on getting Bucky a pardon from the government, citing psychological conditioning and that he was just a POW. So far she was winning, but she also had a lot more on her plate with eradicating the last of HYDRA. Bucky supplied information wherever he could but his memories were still patchy.

Three weeks later and it was a Friday night. Bucky hadn't left the Tower since he had arrived and was getting cabin fever. He was in the living room with Natasha, sitting at her feet as she braided his hair. It was their little thing, something she would do when he wasn't feeling right or she had come back from a mission to help them relax. Each time they did this she would teach him about something new that he had missed through his time as The Soldier, and today she was showing him action movies. They had watched _Die Hard_ and _Die Hard 2_ by the time Steve wandered in with Sam, Tony, Pepper and a huge stack of pizza boxes. He passed two to Bucky, one each to the others and kept three for himself while Natasha loaded _The Fifth Element_ into the DVD player.

"I'm enjoying today's braids, Buckaroo. Very princess like," said Tony, attempting to keep a straight face. 

"I had no fucking choice in it today. Might just cut the damn stuff off." Bucky muttered grumpily, and took a large bite of pizza. Natasha tugged on a few loose strands of hair.

"Language, Yasha!" she scolded, "how many times do I have to tell you about that?" Sam and Steve hid smirks behind bottles of beer and it didn't go unnoticed by Bucky.

"And you two can fuck right off as well. I think after putting up you for as long as I have, Steve, I'm allowed to curse whenever I god damn well please." 

Tony couldn't resist and piped up, "yep, definitely a princess today. JARVIS, remind me to buy him a tiara."

_"Or I could just order it for you now, sir?"_ , came the slightly amused response.

"Yes, wonderful. Have it delivered to him asap!" Tony was in hysterics and Bucky threw a piece of pizza crust at him. Clint wandeded out of the kitchen and spawled next to Natasha. 

"Oh, did Tony just find out about Steve and Bucky?" he asked Natasha, who pinched the bridge of her nose as Tony stopped mid giggle. Bucky stopped chewing to glare at Clint and Sam choked on his food, while Steve turned a brilliant shade of red. Clint scurried to the other side of the sofa.

"Well done Clinton. He just did." Natasha didn't need to look up to know Tony was looking between Steve and Bucky wide eyed and mouth agape. Steve hid his face in his hands while Bucky, swallowing the half eaten pizza, snapped at him.

"How in the everloving fuck did you fucking know about that?! Like seriously is nothing a fucking secret anymore!"

"Buck-" Steve began, but was cut off.

"Don't fucking 'Bucky' me, Steve. You said you hadn't fucking told anyone!" Bucky was visibly upset that their secret wasn't so secret.

"In fairness," Sam put in, "I see you holding hands whenever you think people aren't looking."

"I saw you kissing in the kitchen about two days after you moved in," supplied Natasha.

"I noticed even though two bedrooms were made up for you both before your floor was complete you always shared the same bed. I always just assumed it was leftover from your war days." Pepper said thoughtfully.

"I was in the air vents hiding from Nat after I spilled wine on a top she likes and kind of heard you both. I mean I turned my hearing aids off as soon as I realised! But yeah you guys aren't quiet..." Clint faltered as he realised not only has he told Natasha his hiding place, but Bucky and Steve were staring holes into him. Tony was still just gaping at everyone.

"You're four fucking floors above us, what the actual fuck were you doing near our bedroom?!" Bucky shouted.

"How did I not know any of this?? IT'S MY TOWER I SHOULD KNOW EVERYTHING!" he complained petulently as Darcy wandered in.

"He just found out?" she asked the group.

"Yep, and he's not happy he was the last to figure it out." replied Natasha.

"Darcy I wanna make a fucking complaint. Clint was spying on us through the fucking ceiling vents." Bucky said with an evil look on his face.

"You can only make it if you tone down the amount you swear." Darcy stole a slice of his pizza, and settled in next to Sam.

"FUCK."

************************************************************************

In the week that followed the revelation that everyone knew about him and Steve, Bucky sulked. A lot. It wasn't that they all knew, because none of them cared past Tony being annoyed he was the last to know. It was that he couldn't tell them when he was ready to tell them.

"Don't you think it's time to stop being angry at this, Buck?" Steve's voice was low and deep in his ear as the blonde curled around him, sweat drying on their bodies.

Bucky replied into his pillow. "I told you why I was angry. We spent god knows how many years before and during the war terrified that we would be caught? We worked our fucking asses off to keep our secret and everyone here casually tells us they all knew? I don't even know how to even deal with that." 

"Yeah but you know that it's fine now. Nobody thinks we're any less for what we do in our own apartment, and since we both like the dames as well, if you wanted to keep it secret from the public you just gotta be seen out on a few dates." Steve chuckled and pulled him closer. "Will you stop being a child now?"

"Maybe a few more days," came the sleepy reply. Steve laughed and nuzzled Bucky's hair.

They were just drifting off when they heard a muffled thud above their heads. They both sat up completely alert and a gun appeared in Bucky's hand aimed at the ceiling that Steve didn't want to know where was hidden. They crept out of bed and Steve grabbed his shield. There was another thud, this time louder, followed by some shuffling, which got louder and came towards them. It stopped abruptly with a holler. Voices could be heard through the air vent on the wall.

"Ouch! Get off me Nat!"

"Get out of the damn vents Clint!"

"I'm not getting out here! Either we go back up four floors or down another two."

Bucky threw Steve's underwear to him and slid on his own. He walked over to the vent and shouted into it, "You may as well come out here before you wake up Darcy, and believe me you'd be happier facing me than her right now."

There was a moment of silence before a small giggle and a "shit" filtered through to the men in the room. Bucky opened the vent hatch and after a moment Clint slid out, followed by Natasha, who instantly began slapping at him. 

"Natasha, could you beat him up upstairs? I don't really want blood on the carpet in here." Steve put his shield back in the corner as Natasha nodded and dragged Clint out the room by his ear.

"I'll have a word with Tony about securing the vents," she called over her shoulder. The door to their apartment closed with a click and Steve began to laugh. 

"Well that was unexpected."

Bucky smiled. "Reckon Darcy will let me make that complaint now?" he asked Steve.

"Maybe if you tone down the language. Come on, lets go back to bed."


	3. In which The Avengers seem to think short straws are an adult way to settle things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm the worst! I've had half a chapter in my head for weeks and I've only just managed to decipher it. Looking more at building Darcy and Sam in this one, as well as getting ready for the main purpose of the fic. Thank you for all the kudos guys
> 
> xoxox

Sam was ten minutes into a five-mile run when Darcy appeared before him on the treadmill. He stopped the machine and popped his earbuds out. 

"What's up Darcy? Everything okay?" He mopped his forehead with the towel on the machine. 

"Everything is great, I just need you for a super-secret Avenger meeting." She smiled brightly at him, before pulling one of her phones out and waggling it at him. "I did text you. Eight times."

Sam felt like he should be blushing and checked his phone, which was lying next to his iPod. Low and behold, eight texts from Darcy and, worryingly, one from Maria Hill. He looked up. "Should I be worried Hill is texting me?"

"Yep. Now let's move your caboose, you have ten minutes to meet us in the main kitchen." She skipped off towards the lift, looking more like the rock music loving student she was when she met Jane than a government co-ordinator. Sam watched her go, before shaking back to his senses. He grabbed his phone and iPod and went to shower quickly. Maria Hill was not a woman you kept waiting. 

Nine minutes later, Sam walked into the kitchen to find Darcy, Maria, Tony, Clint and Natasha around the table with an empty donut box in the middle of them. 

"Why do I feel like I'm in trouble?" Sam asked as he sat down on the only empty stool. He tried to ignore it was next to Darcy and checked the donut box for a straggler. 

"Well for keeping us waiting I ate your donut," Natasha smirked. 

Tony yawned. "Now he's here can you tell us what this is about?"

Hill tapped the folder in front of her. "Bucky's been cleared. Full military honours and back pay. He's officially no longer a wanted man. Apparently, seventy years of brainwashing can class you as a prisoner of war. Who knew?"

"Then why isn't Steve here?" Sam asked the room. 

Darcy leaned into the table. "He's at a gallery. He's trying to stop crowding Bucky, although I don't know how that's possible in that giant apartment of theirs, so he's taken to going to the galleries in the city. Apparently one wants him to host drawing lessons." She texted as she spoke. "Yep, won't be home for a few hours still," she said as she flashed her phone screen. Her conversation was with 'Abs of Steel', causing Natasha to fall into hysterics. 

Tony rolled his eyes. "Darcy are you serious? 'Abs of Steel'?"

"Oh don't worry you all have nicknames. Safer that way for one."

Hill knocked on the table. "Can we get back to this!"

"Oh right, sorry Maria. Why are we having a super-secret Avengers meeting about Bucky?" Natasha prompted. 

"Because I need to use him, and we need to tell Steve that."

Clint's finger flew to his nose, with Natasha's a millisecond behind. Maria pinched the bridge of her nose, while Tony looked between them confused. 

"Guys you're meant to be grown-ups. You're also two of the best spies in the world," Darcy berated them. "Putting your finger on your nose is not a way to determine that you aren't doing something."

"That's actually a thing?" Tony asked. 

"Yep, my nephews do it all the time when I ask who's gonna clear the table." Sam told him. 

"Clint, Natasha, stop it. Now, Sam. How should this even be broached to them?" Hill took control of the meeting. "Bucky is gonna say yes just to try and make us happy and Steve is going to flip out. That's going to cause an argument and since Darcy is on the floor above them, I doubt she wants to hear what will probably be an explosion of wills. Then the rest of us would have to deal with them doing the whole silent treatment thing." 

Sam glanced around to see them all looking expectantly at him. He put his finger on his nose. "I'm not touching this with a ten-foot pole."

"Oh come on Feathers, if I do it he's just gonna try and hit me!" Tony implored. "Apart from Buckaroo and possibly Nat, he likes you most. And you're more likely to get him to say yes. Maria what do you need him for?"

"There's a HYDRA base in Baku and it's well fortified according to Bucky. He knows the ins and outs of it perfectly and it's possibly their new base of operations. He can get us in to take it down, and we can't do it without him."

There was a moment of silence around the table, then Natasha spoke up. "You want to take Bucky Barnes, The Winter Soldier, the world’s deadliest and most feared assassin, into a HYDRA base?"

Maria looked uncomfortable. "Well-" she began but Clint cut her off.

"The same Bucky Barnes that says he has code words implanted in his mind?" He was stunned.

"Sam said they were working on that but the fact of the matter is that we need him!" Maria was on the defensive but the voice from the door silenced her.

"Need who?"

Bucky was standing there in the doorway, box of Lucky Charms in hand. As his memories and ability to eat real food returned, Bucky had rediscovered an insatiable sweet tooth that could finally be fed in the new age of junk food. He'd also embraced modern clothing more than Steve had, today wearing a slouchy hoodie he had quickly grown fond of and, surprisingly, skinny jeans. He was looking intently at Maria as he ate the cereal straight out the box. The other Avengers stared at her as she figured out the words to use.

"We need you on the team for the Baku takedown," she said finally.

Bucky shrugged. "I'm in," he said simply, and shovelled another handful of cereal into his mouth. He noticed the donut box on the table. "Oh come on guys, you had fucking donuts without me?", he asked with a sadness that sounded as childish as he felt.

"LANGUAGE, YASHA!", Natasha shouted at him. They were all prone to swearing, but sometimes Bucky needed to be told. He wandered over and playfully punched her in the arm. 

"I still don't see the problem with this mission, Director," Bucky turned to Maria. "I feel I'm ready for something like that, and I'm sure Sam will back me up. Plus, you'll need all the help you can get with this one." He threw a marshmallow in the air and tried to catch it in his mouth. He missed and Clint caught it.

Maria laughed. "Okay then. You're going to the one to tell Steve about this then. That's what this meeting was for." The marshmallow Bucky was trying to catch fell straight down the back of his throat. He started choking, and Sam instantly began pounding on Bucky's back trying to dislodge the marshmallow. He coughed and, eyes streaming, gaped at Maria. 

"You fucking what?!" he croaked. "No way in hell am I doing that." Darcy handed him a glass of water and he accepted it gratefully. 

"Well then what do we do?" Sam asked the room.

"I have an idea." Tony volunteered. The tension in the room was instantly tangible; last time Tony had said he had an idea, he and Clint had had to hide in the vents from Natasha and Pepper. He went over to a drawer and pulled out a box of drinking straws. Taking out seven, he cut the bottom of one with the kitchen scissors and lined them up in his hand. "This way it's fair."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "You're joking, right? Short straws?" she said incredulously. Tony waived her away. 

"It's good enough," Bucky announced, "so everyone grab a straw." Tony put his fist in the middle of the table and they all reached in and gripped a straw. "On three, guys. One, two, three..." Bucky counted down and on three, they all pulled out a straw. 

The cheering at not having to tell Steve about the plan was drowned out by loud Russian swearing and Sam looked over to see the short straw in Natasha's hand. Everyone left quickly after that. Tony walked out muttering something about arrows for Clint, who instantly followed him with ideas for arrowheads. Natasha stalked out ominously and nobody asked her where she was going. Maria went back to work down on the 65th floor and Bucky, after digging around the freezer for cherry Garcia ice cream, decided to watch a movie on the big screen in the living room. That left Sam alone in the kitchen with Darcy. He had noticed little things about her when they weren't working, like that she preferred Diet Coke over regular, and that she tended to paint her nails to match her mood. Part of him admired her as she worked, and another part would be captivated by her smile. She made him feel like a teenager again and he tried to not let it show in his voice as he turned and spoke to her. 

"So how come Banner and Thor weren't here as well?" he asked her. She looked up from her phone and, shocking Sam, put it down.

"Thor hates meetings. Like unless it's what battle he gets to charge into he doesn't like doing the whole sit and listen thing. Plus, he actually admitted he probably wasn't the best person to tell Steve and has pulled Jane out the lab for the lovey dovey lunch. Banner we only invite in to meetings when they're briefings because he prefers to stay in his lab." She was so animated when she talked that Sam felt like he was getting a second hand 'happy high' just being near her.

"That's fair enough then. I take it the job is treating you well?" His voice wavered and he was scared she'd notice.

"Yeah it is, you know. It's a lot like managing Jane, only lots of you. I get some downtime and great healthcare perks though. Actually, quite a lot of downtime for someone with my job role, so maybe we should work through that movie book you said you had." she chirped brightly. Her phone rang, and after checking the caller ID, hopped off her stool. "Duty calls, as ever. Catch you at the next group meal, Feathers." Darcy winked and skipped out of the kitchen answering the phone with a very authoritative 'hello'. Sam watched after her and thought to himself, _damn, that woman might be the death of me one day_.


End file.
